It seems as though almost everyone is taking medication for something. Be it heart disease, high blood pressure or arthritis, there is a pill for everything. Unfortunately some pills are very addictive and can have detrimental results for the patient yet they are still regularly prescribed in certain circumstances.
Once a person begins taking these medications it can be difficult to stop. Even if the patient recognizes that their dependency on the pain medication is unhealthy, physically their body craves it, so they are unable to stop taking it. This can lead to them hiding the medications from loved ones so that no one realizes they have an addiction.
There are some warning signs that others can look for if they do happen to suspect someone they love has developed an addiction to pain pills. These warning signs may not all be present but if a person does recognize one or two of them, it’s their duty to help their friend or loved one so they can break the addiction.
A common symptom of someone who is suffering with a prescription medication addiction is that they will often see more than one doctor on a regular basis. The reason behind this is obvious, in that they are looking for more than one source to feed their pain pill addiction.
A person who is struggling with a dependency on prescription medication will often drink alcohol to heighten the effectiveness of the pain pills. Most pain medications come with a warning to not consume alcohol while taking the pills. This is for a very good reason as the intensity of the affect of the medication is heightened when consumed with alcohol. This is an important warning sign, and treatment should be sought immediately if this type of behavior is suspected as it can be obviously, incredibly dangerous.
It can be difficult to approach someone who has the outward signs of a pain pill addiction. Typically they will refute the suggestion that they have a problem and often, once they realize someone suspects their behavior, they will work harder to conceal it. If left untreated, the addiction can become more serious with the individual turning to their medication to drown out any stresses or complications they feel in life. In some cases, a person addicted to pain pills will find, over time that the pills aren’t strong enough and will graduate to heavier narcotics.